Planograph co



H. F. JEROLAMAN.

MECHANISM FOR OPERATING FREIGHT CAR DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1919.

1 ,3 1 2, 1 80. I Patented Aug. 5, 1919.

I lH-fZ llllllH'll WITNESSES. J

2 lzvm'l? JY'FOZMA, .17 BY 39 w 1 76.2 F166.

AITORNEJS.

THE QQLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D.,C.

' To all whom it may concern:

UNITED Pei- OFFICE HENRY r. sem nars, or oi-"ironsd rntrnois ivinonnnrsmronornnnrnvefanren r-ezlnfnoons,

release.

Be itknownthat I, HENRY F. J EROLAMAN, a citizen of the United States,and arcsident of the city of Chicago, in thecounty ofCook and State ofIllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inMechanism for Operating Freight-Car Doors; andl do hereby declare thatthe following description of my said invention, taken in connec tionwith the accompanying sheet of drawings, forms a full, clear, andexactspecification, which will enable others skilled. in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same. a j My invention relatesgenerally to imrovements in mechanism. for. operating reight-car doors;and it consists, essentially, in the'novel and peculiar combination ofparts and details of construction, as herein after first fully set forthand described and then pointed out in themclaims. v The object of thisinvention is the production of an efiicient, and serviceable mechanicalmeans for opening and closing the doors t 1e, at presof box cars, which,especially in out, prevailing employment of freight cars having a verylarge capacity, and consequently increased weight, are rather difiicultto open and close without resort to some,

means for asslsting in this opening. This means has generally been acrowbar, and the result of the application of this means may be noticedbythe inspection of freight cars that have been in use for some time andshow the result and the damages tothe, car; sides and the doorsresulting from the use of this A further ob ject of this invention isthe introduction of means for lockin and sealing the car doorsinstrument of destruction.

to prevent unauthorized entry into the. car, said locking means being apart of the mechanism for operatlng the doors. v

Other objects of this invent'on will herein after appear.

In order Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car body showing the door inclosed condition, and locked, the position of the operating pendu lumlever for opening the door beingshown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a likeview showto overcome the hereinbefore mentioned drawback, construct themeohamsm for opemngand closing the car door, in

Specification of Letters I atehti 1811 35, 1919. Application fileama 5,1919.- seriaiint eemez. i i 7 ing the door in openedfoondition, themechan cal. means in posit on for closing. the

door, 3is a sectl nal elevation on line with the gdoor opening, andclosing. means,

the P i duluml er s own in d t lines dicatingJ'aRPl' XimatGly the limit:of the dis,

tancefwvhi h the said lever maybe swung.

away from the door. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the pendulum leverdetached and illustrating the ,Ineans for locking the ear.

doorgby the pendulum lever: Fig. (iis a de+ tail sectional view ofgafragment oftliecar door and one of the pro ections on thelongie tudinalbar on the door. Fig, 7 is aseotional plan .VIBW} ,of 'a fragment of thedoor, :the

pendulum lever, and the; bracket by which the pendulum bar 18 lockedinverticalg position; Fig; S is an edge view ofthe said the fulcrum forthe. pendulum lever.

,Like, parts are designatedlby the same characters and symbolsofreference mall the figures. i i

.. A, in the drawings designate a ,l f o of a box car body of usualconstruction; and B door openlng C, inthecarbody. There are two ofthese; door openings on each ear, one

on each sideof the car body, and door. for eachbpeninggthe car bodybeing usually with hangers 12, havingtrack 13-, whereby the doors aresuspended, and, car sills 14,,pro-.

provided wheels moving. on tracks vided with guidingbrackets l5,;whichretain the lower'ends of the doors in proper.

position when closed. There are also secured to the carbody stops 16,which limit thedistanee to which h cardoors may be moved ino'pening; andbattens 17,- or. stops adjacent j the door opening closing movement ofthe door. n v i As thus far describ d, the car body and its doors ,are,asgalready, stated, of. usual constructi n, and is to this class of carsto which my invention is best adapted for ,use-

The e l Sidesand the doors being alike in 105 construction, Lshall,therefore, refer to them and theoperatingmechanism, in the singu larnumber. 1 v

To the facinglS of the car body, and

above the door ,B,.there is secured a fulcrum 110 bracket and; the lower.endof the pendulum. lever. Fig. 9. is a detached sectional view of.

the slidable door employed. for closing the 0,. to limit the secured tothe car for thedependingvllever D, which fulcrum comprises a spool G,shown detached in .Fig. 9, said spool I V spaced apart relationship,"said Spoor being body ,A by a pivot :bolt

28, and a multiplicity of screws 29, said piVotbolt 28 extendingv beyondthe face ofv the flange 27, and carrying loosely at its end a Washer 3(),the latter flange and'the washer" I being likewisein spaced apartcondition to permit {the u p per endof the pendulumlever ably'a fiatbar, but inayalso be round bar 1 5' flattened a't-both ends, reachesbelow the lower end o the doorto'bring it =vvithin easy I reach of?"operator; when standing upon the' grolun Ithasiat'its upper end-tendedaperture 31; 'forthe convenience ih handlihg the endulum lever from theground, and somewhat'below the middlfdf Y for operating- 2 5' whichgenerally on i the same lever as the slightly above theflniddle -of thedoor, there issecurely fastened a fiat bar extending entirelyacross the'door and "having its ends 3 sired construction,

bent at right angles -as indicated at 21,136

engage the vertical *edges-ofthe door; From thisbar extendani'ulti'pli'cityof projections position up'OnZl-the boIt 34, 'by-faWasher 35,

\ larger in diameter' than-the roller, to afford pendulum lever inproper position and preventing it from swinging outwardly when beingactuated to shoulders-"for keeping the open or"clo se"the doori-f 1nor'd'er to l'ock th is pendulumlever in non operative, dependingposition, and at are same time toafi'ord means for locking and sealingthe doorfl provide means, ineluding the'following: I

' Ektendingfrom,-'andsecuredto, the sill '14, and; located below thedoor, there is a bracket 37-,"sho'wn inde'tail-in Figs. 7 and 8,1Whichbracket hasfn'ear the o'uteren'dof itshorizontal member, an opening 3 8,and in thereis 1P 0 over the outer end of {the bracket '37.

i Upoir the pendulum lever there is 'slidably placed a socket H, Whi'chha'salaterally eX-; tendingv bar 41, from which extends. downfront ofthis opening, a transverse slot 39. Near thelower end onthe pendulumlever D, there transverse. slot- 40, large enough toperinit the endulumlever being placed Wardly, a pin 42, and in front of this pin in thebar41, a transverseslot 43,

having ,two flanges 26, 27, in.

.opera'te freely upon said pivotfbolt.

sa- 'i-ength a seeond handle 33, the lever f-from a platformf pin 12 andthe slot 43, positions of the opcnthe horizontal limb of the bracket 37Let itnoW be assumed that the door B, in being opened, moves to theright, as shown in Fig. 2. There is placed near the right-hand verticalmargin of the door, an angle iron 44, Figs. 1 and 2, against which thependulum lever bears when the door is closed and the pendulum lever isin vertical position and engaging the bracket 37. This will prevent thedoor from being opened; andwhen the socket H with its pin 4213 moveddownwardly so that the pin 42- enters thehole 38 in the bracket 37, thependulum lever D is locked in its depending position, so; that when acar seal 45, Fig, 3, is passed through the slot 39 in the bracket 37andthe slot 43 in the socketbar 41, the car door is also sealed, therebydoingaway with the present mechanism for sealing a car, such as staplesand hasps, and the like. Instead of this angle iron 44, I may move theprojection 22 on the door somewhat to the right, so that when thependulum lever is in pendant position, and the door is closed, thislever will bear against this projection and thus serve the purpose ofthe element 44, a construction which would be perfectly obvious.

Attention is now invited to the fact that the upper end of the pendulumlover I) is slotted, the object of which is to permit a certain amountof vertical movement of the pendulum lever so that the latter willalways be in condition tobe placed over the bracket 37 when the pendulumlever is to be' held in vertical, depending, position. And it is to benoted that the upper end of this lever which is pivoted upon the bolt28, has some lateral play between the flange 27 ofthe spool G,'and thewasher 30, on the bolt. This permits the lower end of the lever" to beswungaway from the door a certain distancefjust suflicient to clear theparts-projecting from the door, when the lever is to be employed foropening or closing'the'dooit: l V

The operation of this closure operating mechanism may now be brieflydescribed, as follows: I l

"The car door being closed and the pendulum lever in locked position,the slidable socket H is lifted to disengage its pin 42 from the bracket37, and the lower end of thepp'enduluni lever swung outwardly andt'of'the left, behind the first projection 22, and then pulled toward'the right to take the first bite, which willn'iove the door B somedistance in the sanie direction. The pendulum'lever is then again movedtoward theleft'behind thesecond projection 22", and this step-by-stepmovement is repeated until the door is entirely opened.

To close the door, the pndulumlever is first placed behind theprojection 22; and then the manipulation of the lever repeated, ashereinbefo're stated, until the door is closed, and the pendulum leverplaced onto the bracket 37 and the socket H lowered to cause thepinietoeugage the noises in the bracket 37. f

The ,object of the, roller on the stud bolt 37, shown in Fig; is toreduce friction on the pendulum lever when moving the door, as far aspossible, amiss dulum lever from slipping off the roller when beingoperated.

While I have hereinbefore described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, I

desire it to be understood that I am aware that changes may be made inthe details of construction, to adapt this invention to the differentfreight cars now in use, and that parts may be omitted Without departingfrom the scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described this invention, I claim as new, and desireto secure to me by Letters Patent of the United States 1. Mechanism foropening and closing the doors of box cars, comprising, in combination, acar body, a slidable door on said car body, a fulcrum secured to saidcar body above said door, a lever pivotally connected to said fulcrum, abar, said bar being longitudinally secured to the face of the door abovethe middle of the door, said bar having a series of spaced apartprojections which said lever is constructed to engage to open and closethe door by a step-by-step movement of said lever, and means connectedwith said fulcrum to prevent outward movement of said lever beyond apredetermined distance, said latter means including a spool, said spoolhaving at its outer end a flange, a bolt passingthrough said spool andprojecting therefrom, and a washer at the outer end of said bolt, saidwasher being spaced from said flange sufliciently to permit saidpendulum lever to attain a position slightly inclined to the axis ofsaid bolt.

2. Mechanism for operating the doors of freight cars, comprising, incombination, a car body, a slidable door on said car body, a fulcrumsecured to said car body above said door, a lever pivotally connected tosaid fulcrum, a bar, said bar being longitudinally secured to the faceof the door, said bar havin a series of spaced apart projections whichsaid lever is constructed to engage, said pendulum lever beingconstructed to swing pendulum-fashion across the face of the door andover said projections, said projections including a stud bolt fixed tosaid bar, a roller on said stud bolt, and a washer at the front end ofsaid stud bolt, said washer being larger in diameter than the saidroller to prevent said lever from sliding" off said roller.

- J3: Mechanismfor opening and closing the users of box cars,comprising,in combinabody above "said door and in line with one edge of the dooropening in said car body, said "fulcrum including a fixed pivot bolt, aspool on said pivot bolt and fixed to said car y body, said. bolteiitend-ing beyondsaid spool, ectmg flange 35 serves to prevent the pen:

and a washer at the outer end of said bolt, a lever rotatably andslidab-ly mounted on said bolt between said spool and said washer, a

series of projecting elements on said door.

in horizontal, spaced apart, relationship, said lever being constructedto engage said projecting elements, one at a time, to open and closesaiddoor by a step-by-step movement of said lever, said lever having itsupper end slotted to engage the projecting part of said pivot bolt.

41- Mechanism for opening and closing the doors of box cars, including,in combination, a car body having a door opening, a door slidablymounted on said car body for closing said opening, a fulcrum on said carbody above said door, a pendulum lever pivotally mounted on said fulcrumat its upper end, a series of protuberances in spaced apart relationshipon said door which said pendulum lever is constructed to engagealternately to move said door by a step-by-st-ep movement of saidpendulum lever, and coacting means on said door, on said car body, andon said pendulum lever for locking the door by said pendulum lever.

5. Mechanism for opening and closing the doors of box cars, including,in combination, a car body, a door slidably mounted on said, car body, afulcrum on said car body above said door, a pendulum lever, saidpendulum lever beingmounted on said fulcrum at its upper end, a seriesof horizontally disposed projections on said door which said pendulumlever is constructed to engage to open and close said door by astep-by-step move ment of said pendulum lever, and coacting means onsaid door, on said carbody, and on said pendulum lever for locking saiddoor by said pendulum lever, the means for locking the door including astop on said door, a slidab-le socket at the lower end of said pendulumlever, and a bracket extending from said car body below said door whichsaid pendulum lever is constructed to engage.

6. Mechanism for opening and closing the doors of box cars, including,in combination, a car body, a door slidably mounted on said car body, afulcrum on said car body above said door, a pendulum lever pivotally1nounted on said fulcrum and constructed to swing, pendulum-fashion, infront of said door, a series of alined projections on the face of thetion', acar body, a slidable door mounted on Said car body, a fulcrumsecured to said car meanson said door,-said car body, and said pendulumlever for locking: said doorin either an open or a closed position, saidmeans including a stop on the ear door, a slidable socket on saidpendulum lever, and

10 a bracket extending from said car body helow said door, said slidahlesocket having a downwardly extending pin, said bracket having an openingwhich said pin is construeted to engage, the lower end of said pendulumlever having a transverse slot to engage said bracket.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereuntoset my hand.

HENRY F. JEROLAMAN.

Copies of this patent niay be obtained for fiv e cents each, byaddressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C."

